Snow- New drivers - not learning proper.

berliner

Me (old school) - Speed up through the gears and slow down through the gears with gentle braking.
Me daughter (new school)- Speed up through the gears then brake.
Me is better driver in snow and ice than she.
First rant of 2010

Chip \'oyler

Er you forgot to set off in 2nd

Wooliferkins

+1
Dont forget; Brake in a bend when you are going too fast as opposed to before you get there, whatever the conditions. Fog lights on in a queue of traffic or when it's not foggy!

teagar

berliner wrote:

Me (old school) - Speed up through the gears and slow down through the gears with gentle braking.
Me daughter (new school)- Speed up through the gears then brake.
Me is better driver in snow and ice than she.
First rant of 2010

I passed in June and I use engine breaking to slow down in snow.

Might just be your daughter! :P

cougie

How is your daughter at grammar ?

bails87

I'm a relatively new driver, and seem to be able to drive in snow, but that might be from riding a bike in snow. Just do everything slowly and gently, and sudden movements will end in trouble, harsh braking, sharp steering etc.

Saw a middle aged woman trying to get up a gentle slope in what seemed to be 1st gear on Tuesday, teeth bared, white knuckles from gripping the steering wheel so hard, engine bouncing off the rev limiter and the wheels spinning like mad. She was moving at literally about 2 mph!

How often has your daughter driven in snow btw? Maybe you should do the sensible thing and teach her?

I think it varies an awful lot by instructor though. I was taught to drive, then given tips on passing my test. A mate had an 'older' driving instructor, and passed his test without ever driving over 40mph or going on a dual carriageway because the instructor thought he 'probably wouldn't' have to do either on his test. He was taught to pass a test taken in the suburbs in July, not how to drive sensibly and safely.

YingYang2000

love the snow - handbrake turns which almost go to far yes...

Ollieda

I learned to drive ages ago but I only ended up taking a few lessons and my test about 4 years ago things like engine braking and planning your actions in advance (slowing before corners, not during) we covered again in lessons. However things like snow/bad weather driving isn't part of the test so isn't taught. You have to do more lessons after your test called Pass Plus, and even during that I found I didn't get practical experience of driving in snow because there simply wasn't any!

It's just one of those things that have to be learn't through experience during one's driving career, guidance from others does help though!

berliner

cougie
Me grammar? All she ever drove waz an electric wheelchair.

teagar

Ollieda wrote:

I learned to drive ages ago but I only ended up taking a few lessons and my test about 4 years ago things like engine braking and planning your actions in advance (slowing before corners, not during) we covered again in lessons. However things like snow/bad weather driving isn't part of the test so isn't taught. You have to do more lessons after your test called Pass Plus, and even during that I found I didn't get practical experience of driving in snow because there simply wasn't any!

It's just one of those things that have to be learn't through experience during one's driving career, guidance from others does help though!

If your driving lessons happen to coincide with snow, from my exerpience, you learn to drive in snow.

northernneil

YingYang2000 wrote:

love the snow - handbrake turns which almost go to far yes...

+1

although my mum didnt appeciate it when we arrived in the pub car park on christmas day and it was perfectly covered and icy, I spun it perfectly in line with all the other cars when she exclaimed "oohhhhh neil I am not in james bond movie !!"

:P :P :P

Airbornerodent

berliner wrote:

cougie
Me grammar? All she ever drove waz an electric wheelchair.

That's my favourite reply of all time.... Brilliant.

Buckled_Rims

The other factor which people forget is that modern tyres are more suitable to powerful cars. When I first drove (Austin Allegro ha ha ha) the tyres were small and skinny. They cut through the snow and water. Nowadays they're low profile and wide. These tyres flatter the snow as in aquaplaning.

Didn't Citroen have a C5 advertised last year as a snow capable car?

northernneil

Buckled_Rims wrote:

The other factor which people forget is that modern tyres are more suitable to powerful cars. When I first drove (Austin Allegro ha ha ha) the tyres were small and skinny. They cut through the snow and water. Nowadays they're low profile and wide. These tyres flatter the snow as in aquaplaning.

Didn't Citroen have a C5 advertised last year as a snow capable car?

they called it 'snow motion'
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/citro ... -4542.html

Buckled_Rims

northernneil wrote:

they called it 'snow motion'
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/citro ... -4542.html

Yeah, that's the name.

Tempestas

Love the snow and ice, passed my test years ago and then I learnt to drive, MkII Escorts with bigger than intended engines

I managed 70mph in the works car park last night, got it all the way into 4th and then was tempted to stick it in 5th....but decided against it. Rear wheel drive and 300bhp per tonne is great fun

As long as your not a t1t on public roads and there is no-one around then it's great fun, it's just the idiots on public roads that get on my nerves.

eh

Er you forgot to set off in 2nd

Doesn't always work that, I find it better to start in 1st with a lot of feel for the traction through the accelerator, but I guess it depends on the driver and car.[/i]

Ollieda

speaking of bad driving - just got back from a mates house and on my walk back some "rude boy" in his suped up nova obviously decided to show off to his mates in the car, tried to do a power slide around a corner and failed miserably. Car ended up sliding straight into a ditch......wish I had my camera!

I did the nice thing and went over to check on them, all ok but a bit shook up, all the driver could say was "Oh s*** what is my mum going to say?".... that's his "rude boy" image ruined then

mrushton

Would be nice if we were all taught using a skidpan how to control a car in less than ideal conditions. Could be a revenue earner for the Police

Pokerface

Engine braking is a great way to f@ck up your gearbox.


Cars have brakes for a reason. Learn to use them correctly and you won't need to "engine break". Pun intended.

Buckled_Rims

Pokerface wrote:

Engine braking is a great way to f@ck up your gearbox.


Cars have brakes for a reason. Learn to use them correctly and you won't need to "engine break". Pun intended.

There's a difference between engine braking and compression braking. You can safely use compression braking going downhill and letting the engine run in a fairly low gear without the need to use the discs. Most 4x4 training courses with teach you this.

Engine braking will only damage something if the revs are too high after the change of gear, but that would be fairly drastic ie, 50mph to 1st gear.

Also, when using a slow engine brake many cars don't use a single drop of fuel.

jairaj

mrushton wrote:

Would be nice if we were all taught using a skidpan how to control a car in less than ideal conditions. Could be a revenue earner for the Police

I think in Finland this is part of the standard driving test. How awesome it that?! you have to learn how to power slide before you can pass your test :twisted:

jairaj

Buckled_Rims wrote:

There's a difference between engine braking and compression braking. You can safely use compression braking going downhill

Can you explain more what the difference is?

rake

berliner wrote:

Me (old school) - Speed up through the gears and slow down through the gears with gentle braking.
Me daughter (new school)- Speed up through the gears then brake.
Me is better driver in snow and ice than she.
First rant of 2010

you forgot holding the clutch on a hill in slow traffic or setting off. no wonder my instructor was on his third clutch. all that looking in the rear view every 10 seconds your likely to run over something in front. its utter Shooot what they teach . my test would encorporate trying to be kind to the car . not making brakes glow red everytime a roundabout is approached or riding them unnecessarily down hills :shock: . no going on roundabouts with your tyres folding over and sounding your horn when people pull out because they havent seen your speed from the other side of it and theres trees growing in the middle :twisted: no driving so close when the road widens instantly overtaking that the person in front doesnt have a choice to move lanes as if the car behind has priority. :twisted: :roll: should be a fixed penalty whipping for these offences no questions asked.
95% of people aren't fit to be on the road.

mrushton

I think you'll find most of your points are covered in the highway code and certainly in the Advanced Motorists Test

Monty Dog

I did a skid-pan course a few years ago and understanding how both front and rear wheel drives handle in slippery conditions is useful. Was out on the road yesterday in my wife's Yaris, came up behind two 4x4s - the Range Rover in front was crawling - RR suddenly braked 20 yards short of the junction and the other 4x4 went into a skid and missed him by inches - just goes to show that it's how you drive, not what you drive. FWIW a great car for snowy conditions is a 2CV - low weight, FWD and skinny tyres give it plenty of grip - quite good at fording deep water too.

STEFANOS4784

cougie wrote:

How is your daughter at grammar ?

4 Posts not bad 8)

cyclingtaz

think the main problem is most drivers s**t themselves having to drive in this weather and panic

Jon8a

How do you expect the driving test to cover snow, it doesn't even cover motorways which are pretty much essential to know how to use around towns and cities.

Pass plus covers driving in bad conditions but it is theoretical unless you happen to have snow during a lesson. I had lessons over winter through necessity, some people chose summer because it's easier.

After my lessons I never had to drive in winter condtions because I spent two years down in Somerset with very mild winters. In fact this the first time I've had to deal with proper winter driving conditions. Still plenty of advice about from official organisations.

desweller

Pokerface wrote:

Engine braking is a great way to f@ck up your gearbox.

Why?

Barrie_G

DesWeller wrote:

Pokerface wrote:

Engine braking is a great way to f@ck up your gearbox.

Why?

I assume he's on about selecting a lower gear from a high gear and letting the low speed of the engine slow the car, as opposed to the other person whom I assume meant just taking your foot of the throttle and letting the reduced revs of the engine slow you down.

IMHO both people are right